Israel must implement its commitments under the Gaza peace roadmap for the process to move forward, Nickolay Mladenov, high representative for Gaza at the Board of Peace, said on Monday.
Speaking at the third Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, Mladenov said progress had been made compared to a year ago, but the situation remained far from what was needed to achieve a political solution.
"We are still at the point at which we need to make sure that what has been agreed is going to be implemented and is going to change significantly the lives of the people in Gaza," he said.
"Unfortunately, we're not there yet," he added, saying discussions were continuing with Israel on "the implementation of their part of the commitments" required to move the process forward, referring to its withdrawal in exchange for disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction to begin in the Palestinian enclave.
Mladenov pointed to seven months of negotiations with Hamas on disarmament, describing them as "very intense, very difficult discussions," and praised the mediation efforts of Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar, as well as support from the UAE and other regional countries.
He said the people in Gaza continued to live in "terrible conditions" and could not face another winter under the current circumstances.
Mladenov outlined three possible paths: maintaining the current situation, expanding Israeli military operations and reoccupying Gaza, or implementing the Board of Peace roadmap.
He described the third option as the "reasonable" one, saying it requires disarmament by agreement, an agreed Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction with international and regional support.
Mladenov warned that failure to advance the roadmap could make the two-state solution "practically impossible."
"The only way that we can build back to that is if we have transitional governance, if we have decommissioning of weapons, if we have withdrawal in Gaza," he said.
Asked whether a new Israeli government could reject the current government's commitments following the October elections, Mladenov acknowledged that election periods often produce "knee-jerk reactions" and political posturing, but said Israelis ultimately wanted to move on from the continuing tragedy in Gaza.
He said the crisis had caused "massive emotional, political, human suffering" for Israelis, besides the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, and argued that a longer-term perspective was needed despite the short-term political pressures of an election campaign.
"Neither Palestinians nor Israelis are going anywhere. Nobody is going to leave their homes," he said, stressing the need to restore political dialogue and find a way for the two people to coexist.
The Board of Peace was established in January as part of US President Donald Trump's broader plan for Gaza, with Trump serving as its chairman. The initiative, backed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803, is tasked with overseeing Gaza's transition, including governance, security and reconstruction.
A Palestinian technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, was also established to assume responsibility for civilian administration, restoring public services and rebuilding institutions in the enclave.
The Board of Peace issued a roadmap on July 31 for implementing the next phase of the Gaza plan, including Hamas' disarmament, a phased Israeli withdrawal, transfer of administration to the Palestinian technocratic committee, deployment of an international stabilization force and reconstruction.
The third Hili Forum is being held in Abu Dhabi under the theme "Gulf at Crossroads: Conflict, Consequences and Course Correction." It is co-organized by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research and the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.
